wilderness
noun/ˈwɪldənəs/
/ˈwɪldərnəs/
[usually singular]- a large area of land that has never been developed or used for growing crops because it is difficult to live there
- The Antarctic is the world's last great wilderness.
- (North American English) a wilderness area (= one where it is not permitted to build houses or roads)
- (figurative) the barren wilderness of modern life
Extra Examples- He depicted the frontier as a howling wilderness inhabited by uncivilized savages.
- The trail passes through a federally designated wilderness.
- They set out to explore the continent's last great wilderness.
- We were hopelessly lost in the wilderness.
- officially designated wilderness areas and wildlife refuges
- The US Department of Agriculture designated the land a wilderness area in 1978.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- last
- great
- vast
- …
- tame
- transform
- explore
- …
- area
- preservation
- protection
- …
- in the wilderness
- a place that people do not take care of or control
- Their garden is a wilderness of grass and weeds.
- That part of the city is a wilderness of run-down houses and derelict factories.
- They transformed the wilderness into a garden.
- a position that is no longer important, especially in politics
- the man who brought the party back from the political wilderness
- in the wilderness After three years in the wilderness she was given a government post.
- His wilderness years (= when he was out of politics and the public eye) in the 1990s were spent in Canada.
Word OriginOld English wildēornes ‘land inhabited only by wild animals’, from wild dēor ‘wild deer’ + -ness.
Check pronunciation:
wilderness